Reviews with content warning for Murder - Only If You're Lucky

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham

46 reviews

chandie's review against another edition

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3.5

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erincaitlin97's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Definitely a slow build that kept me guessing the whole time. The way that everything tied together at the end was absolutely insane and unexpected. I loved watching the way these friendships were built, and the blind loyalty they all had for one another.

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savvyrosereads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Out tomorrow [Thank you to the publisher for providing me an eARC to review!]

Rating: 4/5 stars

Margot is grieving the loss of her best friend when she gets pulled into the orbit of the magnetic Lucy Sharpe—and set on a collision course that will change everything.

I genuinely think Stacy Willingham is one of the very best thriller authors out there right now, so this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year! Only If You’re Lucky is definitely a bit different from Stacy’s previous books, but I really enjoyed it.

Academic thrillers are some of my favorites, and this one felt like a pretty unique take on a familiar dynamic. I figured out some of the twists but was completely blindsided by others, which is always the ideal mix, in my opinion! I definitely recommend this one if you want a twisty psychological thriller in a college setting.

CW: Death/murder/blood; sexual violence

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amandaglowgetter's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Only If You’re Lucky is fundamentally a thriller about friendship between young women, and how far we’ll go for our friends. I really connected with the main character, Margo, and I think that a lot of people will too. That feeling of not quite belonging, of being on the outside, looking in, of being in a friendship where the affection feels asymmetrical… Margo gets wrapped up in the lives of her charismatic besties to the point where she wants to be more like them and less like herself, and I think that that expresses our desire for belonging when taken to the extreme.

The book starts a bit slow, but I guess that’s to be expected when you have to build background story for characters. It quickly picks up and the mystery and how all the pieces connect kept me reading. Willingham is queen of the twisty thriller, and this delivers exactly that.

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the advance review copy.

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hheartbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

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booksbeyondthebinary's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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morethanmylupus's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I read a lot of thrillers and, as a result, the big reveals in these books have started to become more and more predictable. This book was full of those big surprises that I never saw coming. More importantly, most of them felt well supported in the book - if I had just interpreted those moments a little differently instead of going exactly where Willingham led me.

This is the kind of book that has an ensemble cast, but really revolves around a few key people: Margot (our narrator), Eliza (Margot's childhood best friend). and Lucy (the mysterious cool girl on campus). We get a supporting cast of: Lucy's friends, the boy next door, and the frat boys next door. The book is mainly set in the present day, but we get some flashbacks to Margot and Eliza's childhood and their last summer together.

This one kept me on my toes despite being more of a slow burn thriller. The payoff at the end was absolutely worth waiting for.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

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meganashlee27's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Margot lost her best friend Eliza the summer before college. After her first year passes in a blur of grief and classes, she’s invited to move in with the mysterious Lucy and her friends in a house off-campus. Her new friends, and the fraternity boys next door, help her start to find her own life again…until Levi shows up to pledge the frat. Levi, the last person to see Eliza alive.

I loved Stacy Willingham’s first two books, so I was very excited to receive an ARC of this one! A twisting mystery, told in alternating timelines, this one definitely had some twists I didn’t see coming. The mystery of Lucy and her bad girl reputation, contrasting with the goodness of Margot the girl who just wants to fit in, was really interesting. A great page-turning suspense!

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an advanced copy of this book!

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clairebonney's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.25

3.25 stars - this one hurts me so much to rate so low (per my rating scale), but I think many people will really enjoy this novel!

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whenimreading's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

3.0

Only If You’re Lucky follows Margot and a group of young college women after a shocking student death and their roommate’s disappearance, featuring alternating timelines showing their lives before these events.

After enjoying Stacy Willingham’s first two novels, I immediately wanted to read her third installment. I love Karissa Vacker’s performance more and more each time. She has great narration delivery changing voices to represent different characters and the ability to build tension throughout the book.

I liked the college setup and Autumnal atmosphere from the opening chapters. However, I expected a little bit more from the plot. Jumping between timelines and going back to the past seemed too repetitive and slow to build. It lacked the investigative aspect and thrill I enjoyed from previous books. The novel also skews a tad young - jealousy, obsession, mysterious secrets, and wanting to fit in - it was reminiscent of Pretty Little Liars.

Overall, it’s a pretty average slow burn book, slightly predictable with a large reveal towards the very end.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the gifted audiobook to review.

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